ASUS Varidrive: The Perfect Ultrabook Companion

The ASUS Varidrive is an optical drive with a trick up its sleeve

CES 2013—CES seemed to show the industry moving in two basic directions that may end up conflicting. We are consuming, and needing to store, more data than ever before: ultra high definition video; lossless, uncompressed audio; and photos from high-megapixel cameras that approach 100 MB per image. At the same time, our devices are getting smaller. Desktops have becoming all-in-ones, laptops are becoming ultrabooks or tablets, and tablets are becoming oversized smartphones. These slimmed down devices omit optical drives and capacious spindle drives in favor of solid-state memory that can’t quite compete with the older tech in the price-per-gigabyte battle, making it difficult to back up your data. Thankfully, manufacturers are addressing this issue with innovative devices like the ASUS Varidrive.

The ASUS Varidrive adds a DVD writer and variety of connectivity ports to your desk in a sleek design.

At its heart, the ASUS Varidrive is a Super-Multi DVD combo drive, designed to stay perched on the desk of a tablet or ultrabook user. It gives you a quick and easy way to back up or transfer your data, and also acts as a peripheral hub, with connectivity for HDMI, VGA, Ethernet and a trio of USB 3.0 ports. Hook the Varidrive up to an external HDD, and with one small device, all your connectivity and storage issues can be solved. Best of all, it looks great and is the multi-position design is pretty brilliant. Check out the video for Josh’s take on the Varidrive and click hereto see our selection of ASUS products.